Improvement in steam hoisting apparatus



' through the liquid.

UNITED STATES Prion.

ATTLNT OTIS TUFTS, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN `STEAIVI HOISTING APPARATUS.

To ail whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Orrs TUFrs, of Boston, in the county of Suffolk andState of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Steam HoistingMachinery; and I do hereby declare thatthe following is a full and exact description thereof, reference beinghad to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference markedthereon.

Like letters indicate the saine or like parts in all the drawings.

. With reference to the accompanying drawings, Figure lis a perspectiveview. Fig. 2 is a side view of the movable valveseat for steam.. valve;Fig. 3, an edge view of same, with steamvalve and section ofsteam-chest. 4 isla section of movable valve-seat at line B. Fig. 5 isasection of'same at line A. Fig. 6 is.a sectional view of theliquid-stop. In this view the valve is open. Fig. 7 is a sectional viewof the piston-rod, valve, and stem of same, with valve closed. Fig. 8 isa view of the piston with valve partly open.

The nature of my invention relates- First, to a combination of devicesapplied to perform the function of stoppin g, starting, regulating thespeed, and reversing the direction ofmotion in steam hoisting machinery.

Secondly, to the employment of a device for stopping the motion of themachinery in a steam hoisting apparatus, and to lock the same and holdit stationary, with or without its load, the device consisting of apiston connected to the moving parts of the apparatus and madechangeable at the pleasure of the operator, andwhile in motion, from aclosed impervious to an open frame or perforated one, and back again,so' as, in the irst case, to allow it to pass freely through a liquidwithin a vessel, towhich the piston is fitted closely or loosely,according to the degree of perfectness required, or, in the second case,not to be movable at all This I have denominated a liquid-stop.7

Thirdly, to the combination of the two foregoing features, so as tosecure automatically a conjoint action, causing the stop always to actat the proper point of time relatively to the movement of the stoppingand starting device, which controls the admission of steam to the engineor engines.

An engine-bed, a', supports a drum-shaft, b, oarryingdrum c, forwindingthe hoisting-ropes.

This shaft is driven directly, or through intermediate gearing, by theengine-shaft d and gears ef.

The steam'cylinders g-one, two, or moreare secured to bed a, theirpistons being connected in any of the usual modes to cranks h, anddriving them. These cylinders g are furnished with steam-chests andcommon slidevalves and suitable ports, the valves being driven byeccentrics on shaft l in the usual manner.

In the space intervening between the slide valve i and seatj, as shown,I interpose a secondary movable seat, k, arranged to lnove transverselyto the valves line of motion, and having one series of openingscorresponding to the steam ports and passing directly through it, andanother series of openings also corresponding to the steam-ports on thetwo sides, but which, in passing through the seat, exchange locations,the one corresponding to one steam-port on the valve side of the movableseat coming out to match the opposite port on the cylinder side, soreversing the steam from one end of the cylinder to the other,accordingly as themovable seat'k is changed, so as to bring one or theother series of openings to match the steam-ports. This movablevalve-seat lc is furnished with a stem, l, passing through astuffing-box in the side of the chest, and joined to a rack, m, whichrack is moved to change the seat 7c by the pinion a on shaft 0, and thisshaft o is furnished with wheel p, upon which play the hand rope orchains used to rotate it. These hand ropes or chains q q pass from thiswheel through or near the hoisting-platform, and extend all the way toan elevation above the highest point to which it is to be raised, andare thus ever accessible to the operator, who may be standing on themoving platform or at stationary points, the ropes passing from wheel pover a wheel, r, at the top, and back to the wheel again. On this shaftis fixed a pinion, s, which plays into and causes to rotate, throughone-half revolution, awheel, t. From a pin in this wheel taconnecting-rod passes to, and connects with, directly or byintervention of crank u and rod, the slide fw.

A cylinder or other vessel furnished with a piston, fr, and suppliedwith water or other liquid, is secured to bed a. The piston is furnishedwith a rod, Q, and a series of ports or perforations and a valve, z,with corresponding ports or perforations,is iitted t0 turn upon thispiston, so that the ports or perforations may be alternately opened andclosed, and is furnished with a hollow stem, II, incasing rod y, thestem, rod, and piston all moving lengthwise together, but the hollowvalve-stem and valve are susceptible of a reciproeatin g rotary movementindependent of piston m and rod y. This movement opens and closes theports or perforations in the piston by bringing those in the valve tocoincide with them or otherwise. The inner rod, fa ,is connected to acrank, III, by which the piston is made to reciprocate within the vesselIV. The hollow valve-stem II is furnished with an arm, V, which may alsobe a part of, or be connected to, a stufng-box for stem Il. Within thisarm the stem is prevented from turning by being splined or made squarefor that purpose, and can only turn with the arm.

The arm V is connected by a link, VI, or otherwise, and receives avibratory motion from slide fw.

The vessel 1V is supplied with water or other liquid, and when the portsor perforations in the piston fr are closed it cannot move inward byreason of the resistance of the water, nor outward by reason of theresistance of the atmosphere pressing toward the vacuum, which thewithdrawing ot' the piston tends to produce. It is only necessary toclose the valve z to stop the motion of the piston through the water. orto open it to allow it to pass freely, and the piston being connected toa crank on the drum-shaft that must stop and be liberated also with it.The vessel IV may be entirely filled with liquid, in which case thepiston will be resisted on either side by liquid, instead of by theatmosphere on one side and water on the other, an ordinary stuffing-boxbeing used around the stem II where it passes through the head in theone ease, but none being required in the other. Two or more ot' theseliquid stops may be used, in which case the `crank-pins to which theyare connected should be set at varying angles.

The operation is as follows: The movable seats lc for the steam-valvesbeing adjusted centrally, in which position the steam is eX- cluded fromthe cylinders, and the valve z also being adjusted at its center ofmovement so as to prevent the passage of the piston through the liquidthe operator, purposing to set the machinery in motion for hoisting,draws the hand-rope q, rotating shaft o, and, through pinion a andl rackm, moves the seat 7c, bringing its direct openings XIII to coincide withthe steam-ports VII, and so admitting steam to set the engine in motion,the pinion s simultaneously driving the wheel t and causing the pin VIIIto move from its central position, and consequently with its quickestmotion relatively at the first start, communieating motion through rodIX, crank a, and rod XI to arm V, and thence through valvestem 1I to thevalve z, so rotating the valve z and bringing its perforations tocoincide with those iu the piston .fr and allowing the piston x to passfreely through the liquid. When the operator would stop the operation ormotion he draws the other rope-rotating shaft 0 and pinion a in theopposite direction until the movable seats k are brought to a centralposition again, so shutting off the steam from entering the cylinder andthrough pinion s, wheel t, and connections to stem of valve z, returnsthis valve or secondary piston to its central position, where thepassage ot' the piston through the liquid is made to cease, and, beingconfined, it obligcs the connected machinery to stand still. When hewould start again in the same direction he gives areturn movement to therope, opening the valves on the same side of the center of theirmovement; but if he would start in the opposite direction he continuesthe movement of the hand-rope in the same direction, causing thesteam-valves movable seat 7c to move from its central position in theopposite direction, bringing the reversed openings XII in the valve-seatk to coincide with the steam-ports VII, so causing the steam, andconsequently the motion, to be reversed, the'valve z being rotated inthe opposite direction, but giving passage for the piston in the samemanner by bringing the next series of openings in the valve z tocoincide with those in the piston fr, thus liberating the machinery. Ipropose to adjust the valve z so as to open exactly at the 'same timethe steam is admitted to the cylinders or either before or after, as maybe found desirable under differing circumstances, but always inconnection with, and by the same movement of, the hand-rope or chain asoperates the seat.

By a slight movement of the movable seats through the means describedthe speed of the engine can be regulated by the operator at pleasure, asby this means he can cause from the smallest to the largest fraction ofthe width of the steam-ports to come into use to admit steam.

Having described the construction and operation of my improvements, whatI claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is asfollows: Y

l. rThe transversely movable valve-seats 7c, in combination with thepulley-shaft o and rack and pinion fm a, or equivalent, for the purposeof stopping, starting, regulating the speed, and reversing the directionof motion in steam-hoisting apparatus, substantially as represented.

2. In combination with ahoisting apparatus and more particularly withthe starting and stopping cord or rod thereof of a closed vessel lledwith liquid and provided with a piston, when such cord or rod is soarranged as by movement imparted thereto to open or close apertureswhich will, by allowing the liquid to pass the piston, permit motion ofthe hoisting apparatus, or by preventingthe liquid the steam-Valve ormovable seat of the steamfrom passing the piston, will stop the hoistingengine motor operating substantially as deapparatus and hold it frommoving, substanscribed. tially as described.

3. The combination, with the stopping and Witnesses: starting cord orrod of a hoisting,` apparatus7 of the Valves of a liquid-stop apparatusand OTIS TUFTS.

D. H. B. GoFFIN, Jr., A. J. TOLMAN.

